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That's exactly what I did. This way they won't be on the S&S account. Now by all means, if you feel that the staff has done an admirable (sp) job give some extra. A lot of people like to give the room steward a $20.00 on the first or second day, this way the'll get anything they like, ie, keep the wine in ice. I've never done this and one cruise, it took 5 days for us to drink the wine and it was never out of ice. That's what I prefer.

TN - We can better reply to your questions if you say which cruiseline or ship you will be on.

Carnival, for instance - You can prepay when you pay for your cruise. If you do not prepay, the automatic tips will be the first entry on your Sail & Sign account. This way you can adjust them if you need to. Prepaying is a done deal, no adjusting.

The only extra tipping you really need to do is whenever you order room service. No charge for what you order, but it's nice to give the delivery person $1-2. (Your cabin steward doesn't deliver room service.)

Extra tips over what is suggested is strictly up to you. Automatic 15% is added to every beverage you purchase, so no need to tip extra there. If you feel someone has gone above and beyond their duties, feel free to tip, but not necessary.

What most folks do, from reading these boards (especially Carnival board), is either prepay or leave all auto tips on their account, and tip a little extra to cabin steward and/or waiters in dining rooom at the end of the cruise.

Some do think a $20 on the first day gives them better service throughout the cruise. I've never done this, as it seems more like a 'bribe' to me - and many others feel the same way. The steward will do his job and anything else you ask of him/her... regardless of that early tip. Funny thing is - the folks who insist it gives them better service haven't tried it any other way (like not tipping first day)...so they really have no clue if their service is better or normal.

Being our first cruise, we opted to prepay for the tips on our Royal Caribbean cruise next month.

The main reason was that it was so much easier to budget it in with the whole cost, pay it in advance, and not have to worry about coming up with more money during the cruise. I like knowing it is already taken care of!

The only thing I plan on tipping for now is Room Service, if we use it, and maybe for any crew member who does an exceptional job for us.

It will feel a lot more like an "all-inclusive" to us without having bills to pay at the end!

This is my 1st cruise (leaving on 10/22 on the Mariner of the Seas) and you can prepay on RCI. If not reading the questions closely when booking you will miss that one, I almost did. I agree was easier for me to budget and one less thing to worry about once on board. Still think I will forget something, even with my long list of what not to forget. LOL

I have always preferred tipping at the end of a cruise. I feel paying ahead of time takes the incentive away for the service employee to earn your gratuities. On the other hand, I have talked with those who prefer tipping ahead of time without any negative experiences. I will be on the Island Princess April 11, and will be taking the prepaid route. Another thing that has been brought to my attention is that this is optional, you can make arrangements either way.

In the past year, Royal Caribbean added the option to prepay your tips when you book. I don't do this myself because you cannot adjust the tips if necessary when you prepay. BUT, a lot of people like this option, because it allows to have another portion of their vacation paid off in advance and it is one less thing to worry about on the cruise.

On RCCL if you prepay the tips, it covers your waiter, assistant waiter, headwaiter, and stateroom attendant. Anybody else that you would customarily tip you will still be responsible for tipping directly (room service, porters, etc). When you buy a drink, they automatically add 15% to the bill.

We have also pre-paid our tips on the Mariner for end of December. We intend on tipping extra for extra special service. But I am wondering, do the steward's etc. know that we have prepaid tips for them.....are they told that we have tipped already or will they think we are just cheap that last night ? Sorry for the silly question, but this is our first cruise!!!

We have also pre-paid our tips on the Mariner for end of December. We intend on tipping extra for extra special service. But I am wondering, do the steward's etc. know that we have prepaid tips for them.....are they told that we have tipped already or will they think we are just cheap that last night ? Sorry for the silly question, but this is our first cruise!!!

On RCCL when you prepay the tips or put them on your Seapass account towards the end of the cruise when they give you the tip envelopes, they will give you a sheet of vouchers to hand to your waiter, assistant waiter, headwaiter, and stateroom attendant to show that you have tipped them.

Quote from previous post... "feel paying ahead of time takes the incentive away for the service employee to earn your gratuities"

I am curious, what do they have to do to "earn your gratuties"...what incentive do you mean here? Paying ahead of time or at the end of the sailing makes no difference to the crew, especially on how they perform their duties. The only time this might matter is if a cruiser expects something unrealistic...the amount of tips they receive has absolutely nothing to do with their job evaluations from their superiors.

If a cruiser experiences exceptionally poor service (rare, IMHO), complaints to the ship's Hotel management are far more devastating to the crew member than withholding some or all of the tip.

Personally I like the pre-paid grats, I don't EVER have to worry about another one as long as I'm on that ship. If I want to add some $'s to someone at anytime I can.I'm not a big tip fan and I can't help it if someone in the service industry relies heavily on tips......I didn't force them into that occupation and they can git out anytime they want.

CIAO,

__________________Steve The World Is A Great Place.You Should See It !(travel channel newsletter)

I'm just reading these older post because we are taking our first cruise in Feb 07 (NCL Sun out of New Orleans).

The tips are added to our account and will have to be paid by credit card at the end of the cruise. My question is pre-paying $10/person/day for our group will be $280 for 7 days. I don't think that is too much to ask for the service we will receive, but if we were not required to pre-pay, I don't think I would tip $40 on any given day.

We don't plan on getting many room service orders and if the room stewart gets tips everytime we see him, how much can that be a day?

My sons are teenagers and won't be expected to tip (just the parents right?)

I'm just worried that with the $280 already added to the bill, we might feel bad about not tipping when we should, which would end up costing another couple hundred dollars that we didn't plan on. Double tipping seems excessive. I might feel different once the cruise is over, but the reason this is our first cruise was financial.

I was wondering, if you don't plan to use the diningroom at all, do you still have to pay the tips for the waiter, etc. The tips are supposed to be automatic I understand but we don't plan on using the diningroom at all so why should we pay tips for it?
I am going on Carnival Fascination .
BTW, when we went on AOS (RCC) the tips were optional, paid at the end of the cruise via an envelope system. Since we didn't use the dining room then either, we didn't pay for the wait staff but each day, we did tip the waiter who served us in that particular section of the buffet.

I'm just reading these older post because we are taking our first cruise in Feb 07 (NCL Sun out of New Orleans).

The tips are added to our account and will have to be paid by credit card at the end of the cruise. My question is pre-paying $10/person/day for our group will be $280 for 7 days. I don't think that is too much to ask for the service we will receive, but if we were not required to pre-pay, I don't think I would tip $40 on any given day.

We don't plan on getting many room service orders and if the room stewart gets tips everytime we see him, how much can that be a day?

My sons are teenagers and won't be expected to tip (just the parents right?)

I'm just worried that with the $280 already added to the bill, we might feel bad about not tipping when we should, which would end up costing another couple hundred dollars that we didn't plan on. Double tipping seems excessive. I might feel different once the cruise is over, but the reason this is our first cruise was financial.

Thanks for listening to be run on.........

Les

We went on our first cruise last May to Alaska on NCL's Wind. On the Tue. we got a print out that showed $10pp/per day. I had to explain to dh that those were the tips. He had not paid attention when I explained before we left.

The look I got was "more money out the window" On Friday we got another print out and the question I got "Can we give more, all the staff have been sooo great" We ended up giving the room stewards extra. Tho with dh's reaction to our first towel animal,(Tue) they would have gotten extra even if they had never come in the cabin again

With NCL if you leave the auto on, you have 'tipped' everyone you should. If you feel your room steward have given you exceptional service you can give more at the end of the cruise, if not, don't. You should NOT feel that you need to tip more. Except $1 or $2 for room service.

Personaly I like the auto tipping, cause they look after it and I don't have to. And if NCL had prepaid tipping I would go for it.

BTW from what I've read that staff apprieciate (spell?) exceptional reviews as much as extra tips

[quote=LESDAIGLE]
The tips are added to our account and will have to be paid by credit card at the end of the cruise. My question is pre-paying $10/person/day for our group will be $280 for 7 days. I don't think that is too much to ask for the service we will receive, but if we were not required to pre-pay, I don't think I would tip $40 on any given day.

You have not pre-paid your tips. Please go back to the top of this thread and re-read reply #3 - it explains. You can have them reduced or removed if you choose. (Hopefully, most folks don't do this!)

We don't plan on getting many room service orders and if the room stewart gets tips everytime we see him, how much can that be a day?

Your cabin steward does not deliver room sevice orders. Personnel from room service do this. A token amount of $1-2 for each delivery is sufficient.

My sons are teenagers and won't be expected to tip (just the parents right?)

Each passenger on a cruise should tip! Exception, children under the age of two years.

I'm just worried that with the $280 already added to the bill, we might feel bad about not tipping when we should, which would end up costing another couple hundred dollars that we didn't plan on. Double tipping seems excessive. I might feel different once the cruise is over, but the reason this is our first cruise was financial.

You just have the wrong information. The very few dollars you would need to tip over and beyond the automatic tips on your account would add up to very little.....nowhere near $200. More like $20.

I am going on Carnival Fascination. I was wondering, if you don't plan to use the diningroom at all, do you still have to pay the tips for the waiter, etc. The tips are supposed to be automatic I understand but we don't plan on using the diningroom at all so why should we pay tips for it?
.

On Carnival ships, the dining room personnel also works on the Lido Deck at the buffet, deli, etc. when they aren't in the dining room.

SO - your assigned waiters WILL be serving you somewhere on the ship, if not specifically in the dining room. Don't remove your tips, as that would be unfair to them.